...And it came to pass that, via its acquisition of various West Coast R&B labels and a few judiciously-arranged licensing deals, Ace Records one day found itself in the enviable position of either owning, or having the long-term rights to, just about every recording made by the late, great Richard Berry between 1953 and 1963. Naturally everyone here at Ace Towers is very happy at this, and who can blame us for being so? Certainly not yours truly, under whose personal supervision the reissue of these recordings falls. Richard is a great hero of mine, and I'd be delighted to be involved in preserving his repertoire in even the smallest way. That I've been allowed to have a crack at 'doing for' the whole nine yards is a really wonderful thing for me.

Long term Ace buyers will know that we've had a representation of Richard's Modern/Flair recordings in our catalogue for, well, almost as long as we've had a catalogue, I guess. Our Get Out Of The Car" CD and its vinyl predecessor have been part of the backbone of our Modern-derived releases for over 20 years, and it fully merits the revised expansion (and retitling) it will be receiving in late 2004. Before that happens, we're proud to present What-Rickey-Did-Next in the form of "Have Louie Will Travel" - the first ever anthology of Berry's complete Flip recordings, and also of those he made, post-Flip, for and with maverick record producer Gary Paxton.

This is an important collection in so many ways. For starters, it contains the original versions of two of rock'n'roll's greatest anthems in Louie, Louie and Have Love, Will Travel. This alone would be enough to qualify the "important" word. But aside from that, the CD is an invaluable documentation of R&B's evolution into early soul, and how easy the transition from one thing to the other was for Richard Berry. Tracks like Walk Right In and, especially, No Room - Richard's own favourite of all of his recordings and compositions - show that, like his contemporary Ray Charles, he had "soul" sussed and sorted long before the world decided it was an appropriate word to describe new 1960s developments in black music.

There are also a number of exquisite doo wop sides that feature both the Pharaohs and Richard's distaff proteges the Dreamers (who were also sometimes Lockettes, but don't get me started). In spite of Ace's extensive Flip Records reissue programme, several of these have never been reissued prior to this CD. And never issued ANYwhere in the world prior to this CD, are the many demos that enhance the second half of our programme. These all feature Richard overdubbing everything and show that, whoever else he sung with, he could do it by himself just as well, if not better. To our knowledge, not even one of the Gary Paxton masters has ever been reissued before, which only makes this CD even more of an essential purchase for all serious students of doo wop and early soul.

With many wonderful period photographs, reproduced by kind permission of Richard's estate, and a superb sleevenote by the world's #1 Richard Berry fan and expert Eric Predoehl, "Have Louie Will Travel" should be in your shopping trolley quicker than you can say 'Me Gotta Go'.

Delivery & Returns

We offer free P&P to UK addresses. For all other territories packaging is free and postage is charged on a weight basis.

We use Royal Mail First Class for UK deliveries and standard Air Mail for all other territories, very large orders will usually be sent via parcelforce.
You may cancel your order at any time prior to your order being dispatched by emailing us at orders@acerecords.com
ensuring that you quote your name, address and order reference number or by telephoning +44 (0) 208 453 1311 between 9am and 5pm GMT/BST, Monday to Friday. Please note: As music downloads are dispatched immediately after purchase, there is no possibility of cancelling these orders.

In the event that any products supplied to you by us are damaged or defective, we agree to replace or repair the damaged or defective products or refund the amount you paid for such goods (including postage & packaging) providing you notify us (either via post at or e-mail: orders@acerecords.com
) and return the goods within 28 days of purchase. Physical goods should be sent back to us in the same condition you received them to: “Returns” Bus Stop Mail Order Ltd, 42-50 Steele Road, London, NW10 7AS. Music downloads should be returned to us via the e-mail address above including a copy of your notification.

You have the right to cancel your order within seven days of purchase, or seven days of receipt of the goods (whichever is the longer). If you choose to cancel your order, full payment will be returned to you. Returned items should be sent to: “Returns” c/o Bus Stop Mail Order Ltd, 42-50 Steele Road, London, NW10 7AS. Music downloads should be returned to us via the email address: orders@acerecords.com including a copy of your notice of cancellation and order number.